Donald Trump calls for internet shutdown to combat terrorism

Donald Trump has called for the internet to be partially shut down to combat extremism.

The business magnate, reality television star and now serious contender for the Republican US presidential candidacy argued in a speech addressing terrorism that "something" had to be done about the internet.

"We are losing a lot of people because of the internet and we have to do something," Trump said, speaking on an issue that has gained renewed attention in the wake of attacks in Paris in November that saw over 130 people killed.

"We have to go see Bill Gates and a lot of different people that really understand what’s happening. We have to talk to them, maybe in certain areas, closing that internet up in some way."

He also claimed that those who raised concerns over freedom of speech in response to this proposal were "foolish."

"Somebody will say ‘oh, freedom of speech, freedom of speech’…these are foolish people. We have a lot of foolish people. We have a lot of foolish people."

While Trump did not give much detail about what ‘closing up’ the internet would entail, Le Monde, the French national, reported this week that according to leaked documents, the French government is considering banning public wi-fi and the Tor encryption browser.